Part two of this year's output of books by Marylanders or about Maryland, for the general reader. (S) means softbound.
Nature
"Chesapeake Invader," by C. Wylie Poag (Princeton, 183 pages, $24.95). The comet or asteroid that splashed down at the foot of today's bay, 35 million years ago; the sixth largest of Earth's 150 or so known meteorite craters.
"Ancient Microworlds," by Giraud V. Foster and Norman J. Barker (Custom & Limited Editions, 187 pages, $65). Remarkable cross-section photos of fossils, in patterns and colors -- the organic tissue long since mineralized.
"Water's Way: Life Along the Chesapeake," by David W. Harp and Tom Horton (Johns Hopkins, 132 pages, $19.95) (S). Descriptive photos and words, by two of the bay's keenest observers.
"East of the Chesapeake," by William H. Turner (Johns Hopkins, 224 pages, $14.95) (S). A sculptor and linear artist pictures the Virginia Shore: people, seasons, hydrosphere.
Public Affairs
"Hide: A Child's View of the Holocaust," by Naomi Samson (University of Nebraska, 194 pages, $15). A Polish farm wife let Naomi, her mother and two other children live under the barn floor until the Russians liberated them.
"The Civic Deal: Re-empowering Our Great Republic," by Richard Striner (Pericles Institute, 229 pages, $15.95). To conservatives: loosen up on taxes, religion and other fixations; to liberals, get smart about race, get tough about crime. To both: compromise.
"Solving Problems Without Large Government: Devolution, Fairness and Equality," by George W. Liebmann (Praeger, 280 pages, $55). How small institutions can advance the civic and economic weal.
Religion and Philosophy
"Wisdom in Creation," by Sylvan M. Shane (Lowry & Volz, 99 pages, $12.95). The universe is not by chance; it is the work of a divine creator / designer. Shane's 17th book.
"A Big Little Church on a Hill," by Arthur W. Machen (Church of the Good Shepherd, 113 pages, $24). The Ruxton building and its Episcopal congregation, since their start in 1906.
"John Carroll, Uncovered," by Thomas W. Spalding (Cathedral Foundation, 264 pages, $35). Abstracts of 197 documents not in his papers cast new light on the first U.S. Roman Catholic bishop.
"The Voudou Quantum Leap: Alternate Realities, Power and Mysticism," by Reginald Crosley (Llewellyn, 325 pages, $16.95) (S). Religious concepts developed in ancestral Africa, with their special vocabulary.
Fiction (Cont.)
"Prisoners," by Wayne Karlin (Curbstone, 173 pages, $15.95) (S). The Vietnam War's baleful influence on latter-day Americans.
"Water in a Broken Glass," by Odessa Rose (La Caille Nous, 251 pages, $15) (S). A Baltimore sculptor recklessly enters a love triangle.
History (Cont.)
"Aristocratic Life in Mediaeval France: The Romances of Jean Renart and Gerbert de Montreuil, 1190-1230," by John Baldwin (Johns Hopkins, 384 pages, $49.95).
"Chiefs Know Their Boundaries: Essays on Property, Power and the Past in Asante, 1896-1996," by Sara Berry (Heinemann, $24,95).
"The World and the West: The European Challenge and the Overseas Response," by Philip Curtin (Cambridge, $22.36).
"Before Jim Crow: The Politics of Race in Post-Emancipation Virginia," by Jane Dailey (University of North Carolina, 288 pages, $39.95).
"Urban Images of the Hispanic World, 1493-1793," by Richard Kagan (Yale, 240 pages, $55).
"History and Meaning in the Age of Enlightenment: Becoming Merina in Highland Madagascar, 1780-1822," by Pier Larson (Heinemann, 440 pages, $24.95).
Local History (Cont.)
"University of Baltimore," by Thomas L. Hollowak (Arcadia, 128 pages, $19.99) (S). Founded 75 years ago, a private college teaching law and business methods to evening students; now a public university with graduate schools.
"The Soul Knows No Bars: Inmates Reflect on Life , Death and Hope," by Drew Leder (Rowman & Littlefield, 212 pages, $23.95). Thirteen Maryland convicts and a college professor talk about the large things of life, and the small.
"Free African Americans of Maryland and Delaware: From the Colonial Period to 1810," by Paul Heinegg (Clearfield, 392 page, $45). Data on 312 family names.
Miscellany
"In the Hollow of Your Hand: Slave Lullabies," by Alice McGill; art by Michael Cummings (Houghton Mifflin, $18). Words and music.
"First Seasons, A New Journey," by Marjory McKinley Spraycar (First Seasons, 64 pages, $9.95) (S). Self-help suggestions for someone undergoing a hard transition.
"Fame at Last: Who Was Who, According to the New York Times Obituaries," by John C. Ball and Jill Jonnes (Andrews, McNeal, 416 pages, $24.95). Six years' worth of obits, analyzed as to education, occupation, politics, religion.
"A Cry Unheard: The Medical Consequences of Loneliness," by James J. Lynch (Bancroft, 345 pages, $26.95). Insufficient contact with others may be at the root of many a psychological abnormality.
